


A Change of Pace

by egoat



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Fluff, Pining, Romance, Spoilers, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-28 22:06:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12616596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/egoat/pseuds/egoat
Summary: Makoto and Ryuji walk home together and talk about feelings; Makoto and Akira hang out; Sojiro receives a surprise, and Ryuji throws up; and an emergency strategy meeting of the Phantom Thieves is called.





	1. Part 1

 

> _The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom._
> 
> _\- Nyx_

After a long day of battling through Shido’s palace, the meeting of the Phantom Thieves drew to a close. The group, for a short time, collectively forgot their burdens and enjoyed their time together.

Makoto, nervous, anxiously eyed Akira, expecting, or maybe hoping, for him to approach her. He instead started talking with Futaba. She laughed at something he said.

All of a sudden, Makoto felt a wave of embarrassment overtake her. She quickly looked away from Futaba, and let her eye wander around the group.

Around her, Ann and Ryuji were petting and teasing Morgana, now reduced to a simple housecat. Ann was petting him, and Ryuji was laughing about something. 

Sojiro lazily leaned back in front of the counter nearby, staring straight ahead and thinking about something. Makoto wondered if he ever noticed how the Thieves had conversations with Mona-chan.

Yusuke and Haru were chatting about something. They both had a warm smile on their face.

All of a sudden, she felt someone nudge her arm from behind. “Whatcha looking at?”

“Oh!” She whipped around. “Hi, Skull.”

“We’re back in LeBlanc. There’s no need to use codenames,” he grinned, “Oh, unless you just like hearing me call you Queen?”

“Very funny,” Makoto deadpanned. Her gaze lazily drifted back towards Joker and Futaba’s lively conversation. She sure laughed a lot at his jokes.

“Spying on Futaba and Joker, huh?”

“W-what!?”

Ryuji had a sensible chuckle. “You’re blushing, you know.”

“Shut up!” Her embarrassment was so potent that it seemed her whole body was welling up with boiling water.

“God, Nijima-san,” Ryuji said, “who knew you would be such a stereotypical schoolgirl?”

Makoto, furious and at a loss for words, ran out of LeBlanc.

Once she was out the door, the downpour all around her reminded her that she had completely forgotten her bag and coat, and had left her umbrella at home. The rain seemed to calm her down a bit, at least.

Ryuji came out the entrance after her. “Hey, I was just teasing! Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” she fumed. She stood under LeBlanc’s awning for a second, unsure of what to do. She turned to Ryuji. “Would you go back in and grab my things? I don’t want to embarrass myself by going back in there.”

“Sure thing, Queen,” Ryuji smiled. God, he was so dumb, but it was charming, in a way. He dutifully ran back into LeBlanc. Makoto, with nothing else to do, waited by the door and looked out into the rain, and tried to face the truth.

Ever since Joker started at Shujin Academy, she hadn’t been the same person. Following the trail of the Phantom Thieves, and eventually joining them, she had come to doubt nearly everything she had taken for granted. Her career goals, her dedication to school, how she spent her time, her notion of right and wrong, the nature of reality, even…

At the same time, she had become more rebellious than she had ever been, and more open-minded and sociable. Akira had begun “expanding her horizons”…

Now that she thought about it, wasn’t that just a thin excuse to get him to spend time with her?

And the act of pretending to be her boyfriend–was it even Eiko-chan who first suggested that, or was it her?

Maybe Ryuji was right. She was a cliché. Maybe her next move would be to plan a trip with Joker and accidentally book a hotel room with only one bed.

Jesus, not bad.

The door to LeBlanc opened, and Ryuji came out with both Makoto’s things and his. He handed Makoto her coat and purse, and said, “I thought I’d offer to walk you home to make up for… well, calling you out, I guess.”

She smiled. “Thanks, I’d appreciate it.” Letting Ryuji walk her home was probably something the Makoto of last fall would have never done.

Ryuji unfolded his umbrella and began to tread through the rain, and Makoto followed close behind him, struggling to keep pace with his lanky gait.

“About Joker…”

“Oh?” Ryuji looked at her with a toothy grin. Makoto already felt embarrassed. “Can I trust you, Sakamoto-san?” she asked.

“Hey, your secret’s safe with me,” he said, and made a gesture of zipping his lips, which Makoto was pretty sure only dads do.

“It’s… do you know anything about him and Futaba?”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I think he’s just doing his part to get her out of her cage, you know? Help her re-adjust to society. Plus, you know, she’s basically Sojiro’s daughter, so he probably thinks of her sort of like a sister."

“Like a sister,” Makoto repeated.

“What was that?”

“Oh, uh, nothing. Well, I suppose I was being silly. Does…” Makoto balled her fists up and looked directly down, but her anxiety about what she was about to say persisted. God, she felt like she was going to E-X-P-L-O-D-E. But it was now or never.

“Ryuji, do you know if Akira… feels the same way about me?”

“Haha, I don’t know!” Ryuji’s answer came suddenly.

“I…” Makoto stopped in her tracks, and Ryuji stopped with her. All of a sudden, for some reason, she felt sort of relieved?

“Well, thanks for being honest.”

“Yeah, it’s just,” Ryuji explained, “whenever we hang out, we sort of always end up talking about my problems. I guess that’s selfish of me, but Akira’s just that sort of guy, you know?"

“Yeah, I think I know what you mean.” They started walking together through the rain again, and continued together in content silence until they reached the station.

“Well, here we are,” Ryuji remarked.

“Yes,” Makoto said softly. “Ryuji, would you mind spending a little more time with me?”

Ryuji was clearly a little surprised by the offer, but made himself game. He accompanied her into the station and onto the crowded subway train. They managed to find adjacent seats. They were mostly silent doing so.

Makoto, all of a sudden, remarked, “Does the Metaverse ever kind of freak you out to think about?”

Ryuji simply responded, “I try not to think about it…”

After a while, they both pulled out their phones. Makoto took the opportunity to text Akira.

“Just so you know, I went home a little early. Ryuji’s with me.”

Akira responded quickly, “I know, he’s texting me right now.”

Makoto quietly giggled to herself reading this. He looked over at Ryuji, who was now playing some kind of fishing game on his phone.

“He said you were acting weird. Everything okay?”

“Yes, I’m perfectly alright. How are you?”

“All good here. I walked Futaba home and I’m just helping Sojiro close the cafe out right now.”

“How nice.” Why did she type that? What a weird thing to say. She put her phone away.

“YEAH!!!!” Ryuji shouted all of a sudden, jumping out of his seat and pumped his fist in the air.

“Ryuji, what happened?” Makoto asked, alarmed.

“I caught a shark! Two hundred thirty pounds!!!”

Makoto, and some others in the subway car, laughed.

 

 

After a fairly short ride, they arrived at Makoto’s stop. Impulsively, Makoto asked if Ryuji wanted to come up to her apartment, and Ryuji, now miles away from his own home, responded yes.

As they walked up to Makoto’s home, Makoto thought aloud, “Oh, there’s some rice wine we could share if you want.”

“Wow, student council president of the year,” Ryuji joked.

“Yeah, underage drinking and vigilante justice are my two vices.”

Ryuji laughed, and agreed to indulge Makoto’s need for teen rebellion.

As they walked up to the door, Makoto fumbled around in her bag for her key for a while, until the door suddenly opened in front of them. It was Sae, with a martini in hand.

“Oh, Makoto! I didn’t realize you’d brought a… friend,” she said.

Ryuji laughed and scratched his hair.

“Oh,” Sae said, “I know you! You’re one of the Phantom Thieves, right?”

“Sis!” Makoto fumed.

“Oops, I’m sorry!”

Ryuji laughed. “It’s okay, Makoto,” he said, “No one heard us. I’m Ryuji Sakomoto. Nice to meet you again, Prosecutor Niijima.” He extended his hand out, and received a loose, drunken approximation of a handshake in response.

“Well,” Sae said, half-seriously, “try not to cause too much trouble while you’re here.”

“We won’t,” Makoto responded. Her older sister sipped her martini and turned back into the apartment. Makoto, embarassed, grabbed Ryuji’s arm and led him to her room.

After closing the door behind them, Ryuji sat down on her bed.

“I guess your sister doesn’t have much to do since we’ve been on Shido’s case,” Ryuji said.

“She’s awaiting her chance to prosecute him. Since she got fired from investigating… us, she’s been a little out of it.”

“She’s still looking fine, though.”

Makoto flung her bookbag at Ryuji. It hit him in the stomach.

“Hey, I’m just kidding!”

“She’s twice your age! Boys have no morals, do they?”

“You’re telling me.”

Makoto awkwardly sat down on the bed next to him.

“So,” Ryuji turned to her, “I was promised sake?”

“Oh!” Makoto got up, and started rummaging under her bed. “Great idea.” She pulled out the bottle of sake.

“It’s not even chilled? Man…”

“Hey,” Makoto snapped, “just be happy you get to drink with the student council president.”

Ryuji waited a moment, as Makoto struggled to twist open the bottle. “Was that a joke?”

“Yes!!!”

“Oh.” He laughed out of pity. Makoto, frustrated, gave the bottle one last twist and it finally clicked open. She unscrewed the cap. “Oh, I should get some sakazukis.” She set the bottle down on her desk and hurried out of the bedroom.

Outside, she attracted the glare of Sae, who had since finished her martini and poured herself another and was looking at something on her laptop. As Makoto walked over to the kitchen cupboard, she began talking to her.

“So,” Sae started, looking up from her computer, “this is the first time you’ve brought a boy home.”

“Yes,” Makoto flung open some cupboards, “What about it?”

“Well, it’s just,” Sae stumbled on her words, “I don’t know.”

“What?” Makoto rummaged through the pottery.

“I always assumed you were, you know.”

“I was what?”

“I just always thought that you, well, leant the other way.”

“What!” Makoto whipped around.

“I mean, with the hair and the bike…”

“Oh my god!!!”

“Sorry!”

“Sis!!!”

Sae just shrugged. Embarassed, Makoto reached back into the cupboard and grabbed the two sakazukis she needed and ran back to her bedroom. As her hand turned the doorknob, she turned around, yelled to Sae, “I’m not gay!!!” and slammed the door behind her.

She walked back into the room to see Ryuji staring at her, eyes widened, stone-faced.

He immediately burst into laughter.

“Shut the fuck up!!!”

Outside, Makoto could hear her sister also laughing. She immediately rushed to punch Ryuji in the gut.

The ruckus reckoning of the Niijima household eventually died down, and Ryuji was left on the floor after taking quite a few punches, tears streaming down his face from laughter. At some point, Makoto heard her sister retire into her room to nap off her martinis. “Are you done?” she asked Ryuji, coldly.

“Just about,” he wheezed. “Oh my god, that wasn’t even that funny.”

“Are you ready to drink, because I am.”

“Yeah, sure thing.”

She poured the sake until both cups were filled, and offered it to Ryuji, who was now sitting on the floor. She sat down next to him with her own cup.

“Do you think we should toast?” she asked, genuinely.

“Sure. To the gay community!” Ryuji thrust his cup into the air.

“To banging Akira!” Makoto did the same.

They both laughed a bit, and took their shots.

 

***

 

“Ryuji,” Makoto said, lying down and looking at the ceiling, “Have you ever been in love?” She had underestimated the power of rice-wine.

“Once,” Ryuji responded, also lying down, “in fifth grade, someone showed me a page that they had torn out of a magazine of a girl with three nipples. That was the first time I ever saw boobs.”

“So,” Makoto asked, confused, “wait, what?”

“I was in love with her.”

“That… makes sense.”

“Also Ann.”

“Mmhmm.”

Makoto stared at the ceiling. She was beginning to drift off.

Ryuji yawned loudly. “Hey, are you also like really tired?”

“Yeah.”

They both said nothing, and, after a minute, fell asleep on the floor.

 

***

 

Makoto woke up next morning, severely hungover, and still on the floor. She fumbled for her phone to check the time. It was already nine AM, but it was a Sunday, so she at least didn’t have to go to school like this. She checked her texts.

There was one from Ryuji, at 3AM, which said, “Didn’t want to wake you so I just saw myself out when I woke up. Thanks for the good time, Ms. Student Council President. Also I’m gonna puke in this empty train car”. Makoto instantly felt something coming up from her stomach after reading that but suppressed it down.

There were two texts in the Phantom Thieves group chat, which read,

Haru: “Are we going to infiltrate the Palace again today, Joker?”

Akira: “Nah, I’m with my boy Oda today. Enjoy your day off, everyone,” and then a peace sign emoji, which seemed like a very casual way to tell someone they’re postponing avenging the death of their father.

Makoto coughed, lifted herself up weakly, fell face down into her bed, and drifted back to sleep after a while.

 

She woke back up around 10:30 to the smell of Sae making eggs in the next room. She reached again for her phone, and composed a text.

“Akira, can I see you tomorrow?”

She got a reply back instantly. “Are we meeting Eiko again?”

“No, it’ll just be me. It’s kind of important. Can you make it?”

“Of course.”

She smiled to herself, turned her phone off, and went back to sleep.

 


	2. Part Two

> _There is both joy and wonder in coming to understand another..._
> 
> _–Nyx_

“Futaba,

Really sorry, but there was a last-minute change of plans and I have to meet Makoto today.

If it’s okay, I invited that kid from the arcade, Shinya-chan, to your house to help you with your promise list today instead. I’m sure you two will get along great. Have fun!

\- Joker”

Futaba looked over these texts again with ire. The doorbell to the apartment rang.

Futaba went downstairs to open the gate, and surely enough, a kid was there.

“Are you Futaba?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Wow, so you’re a real Phantom Thief?”

“Oh boy.”

“I kind of expected you to look cooler?”

Futaba sighed.

 

 

***

 

At around 2 P.M., Makoto got off at Yongen-Jaya station and wandered the backstreets to LeBlanc. She didn’t hesitate at all on the way.

As she pushed open the door, the store’s bell rang, and she was surprised, for some reason, to see Sojiro there, wiping the counter.

“Oh,” he said, looking surprised to see her, “You’re Makoto, Sae’s sister, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” she said. For some reason, she had started blushing already.

Sojiro gave a wry chuckle and said, “To think my delinquent would be spending time with a high achiever like you.” Makoto seemed to remember him making this observation before, and being similarly amused with it. She continued standing awkwardly in the entranceway, waiting for something to happen.

Sojiro finished wiping the counter down and said, “Well, Akira’s upstairs, as usual.” He looked at her expression for a little while, and said, “Say, I haven’t had much business lately. I’ll probably close the shop down for the day and go out to buy some ingredients.” He began untying his apron.

Makoto whispered, without thinking, “thank you”. She wasn’t sure if Sojiro heard her, but she thought he heard him laugh quietly. Without saying anything else, she hurried up the stairs to Akira’s room.

Since there was no door to knock on, she had no choice but to take him by surprise. Thankfully, he was only playing some old video-game when she walked in.

“Ah, Makoto!” He quickly got out of his chair and approached her. “I didn’t know you’d be coming by already.” He then reached in to hug her, which was… nice.

“I should have texted you, it’s my fault,” she apologized.

“It’s fine by me. Don’t you have school, though?”

She was still wearing her uniform. “Yes, I… left during lunch. I didn’t feel like staying today.”

“That’s unlike you,” Akira said, smiling, “You’re becoming so rebellious.”

Makoto smiled, and looked down to the floor guiltily. Her hands drew together, and she fumbled with them for a minute, unsure of what to do with them.

“So what did you want to do today? We could go to the park in Inokashira, or hang around Shibuya–oh, or there’s this ramen place in Ogikubo I could take you to,” he offered.

“Akira, I actually…” God, she felt stupid. 

“I actually wanted to talk to you about something,” she admitted.

“Oh, what is it?”

She fumbled with her hands some more. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was. She was practically shaking.

“Um,” Akira said after she was silent for too long, “Is it about Eiko?”

She kept fumbling with her hands. She felt stupid and short of breath.

“Is it… something about Shido?”

She was completely frozen. This was terrible.

“Is it your sister? Hey, Makoto,” he moved forward, and put his hand out to touch the side of her arm.

She turned her head, and found him looking right at her, so close.

“You can talk to me, okay?”

Impulsively, she thrust her head forward to kiss him.

It felt good–it felt really fucking good, actually–but he didn’t respond as she had hoped. She pulled back from the kiss and found him frozen, silent, and stunned.

“Akira, I…” Makoto whispered. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I should… I didn’t mean to–“

He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her back passionately. She was shocked for a moment, and then went with it. He kept kissing her, and at the same time effortlessly pushed her forward to his bed.

 

***

 

“So, this is your room, huh?”

“It’s messy,” Futaba responded, a little peeved by her grade-school aged intruder, “but Joker didn’t tell me you were coming, so I didn’t have a chance to clean.”

Looking around, it was quite clear that there was no way this place could be cleaned in a single day, anyway. Discarded wrappers, trash, debris, and piles of unused electronics littered Futaba’s bedroom. The only place that was absolutely pristine were the shelves with various books, games, anime blu-rays (that she had painstakingly convinced Sojiro to purchase her), and figurines were stored. Shinya was drawn to some of the Kamen Rider collectibles.

“Hey,” he chirped, “Some of these action figures are pretty cool!” He picked one up and started toying with it.

Futaba instantly leapt up and took it from him. “Action-!?”

She sighed, putting the figma back in it’s place. “Listen,” she said, hating to admit it, “Maybe we should get out of here.”

Shinya beamed at her. “Can we go to the arcade?”

“Sure…”

Futaba was filled with dread.

 

***

 

Sojiro wandered back in at around three with four shopping bags full of various vegetables from the market in hand. He opened the cafe to find it unlocked and full of hot air. The heater had been left on and not a single window was opened. He shook his head to himself.

He carried his groceries over to the kitchen and began unpacking them into pantries and fridge when all of a sudden he could have sworn he heard a giggle coming from upstairs.

“Akira, was that you!?” he yelled out. The kid must not have heard him, because he heard nothing back, “What the hell…”

He put the groceries down and stomped his way up the stairs. “Akira–“

He was shocked, but shouldn’t have been, to see in front of him both his ward and Makoto Niijima undressed next to each other, pulling Akira’s covers up in front of them defensively, and looking back at Sojiro in total shock.

Without a word, Sojiro turned around and went back down the stairs. He heard Makoto faintly whisper with a tone of intense panic, “Oh my god,” behind him.

With intense, deliberate focus on his task, Sojiro quietly made a pot of coffee and tried not to consider what he had just seen.


	3. Part 3

> _Where have you been?_
> 
> _Been searching all along_
> 
> _Came facing twilight on and on_
> 
> _Without a clue_
> 
> _Without a sign_
> 
> _Without grasping yet_
> 
> _The real question to be asked_
> 
> _Where have I been?_

Makoto reclined on the backboard of Akira’s twin bed as he lay panting, out of breath, next to her. Still a little in shock, and still a little aroused, she took a deep breath and lied down beside him. She turned on her side to face him.

“That was…” she whispered, “Wow.”

He smiled at her, still winded. He put her arm around her and she cuddled up to his body, still hot, and could feel his heart pounding. Makoto pulled up the sheets around them.

She remembered that she technically hadn’t even confessed her feelings to him out loud, and laughed to herself. “What?” he asked of her.

“It’s… nothing. Don’t worry about it,” she said, smiling at him.

He closed his eyes. Makoto let her hands drift across his body as she rested next to him. This was nice.

“So…” Joker mumbled, “Was it good for you too?”

Makoto giggled, and continued drifting her hands across his body. He was surprisingly muscular… she always thought of him as kind of scrawny. She felt up and down his chest.

“Yes,” she responded, “That was really good.”

Akira, clearly proud of himself, smiled.

“Akira…” she began talking breathily, barely even thinking, “I’ve wanted this for so long.”

He was silent for a moment, but responded, “Me too.”

Makoto was surprised, though in the back of her mind she had suspected this. The way his gaze lingered on her, how eager he was to pretend to be her boyfriend. “Since when?” she asked, curious.

“Uhh,” he thought. “When you first joined the Phantom Thieves.”

“Really?”

“You look cute in that biker outfit.”

“Shut up!”

He laughed. “When did you…?” he asked.

She responded honestly, “Since you first came to Shujin.”

“Wow, really?”

“You had a sort of… mysterious, cool look. I don’t know, I was intrigued.”

“Really?” He was thrilled. She had clearly given him too big of an ego about this. “So you go for bad boys, huh?” he remarked slyly.

She giggled. “Maybe, yes. Actually, you’re…”

Suddenly, he jolted upright. He turned to her and asked, “Hey, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

From downstairs, a muffled voice could be heard. “Akira?”

“Oh, shit,” Joker exclaimed. Makoto jolted upright alongside him.

“Uh, you should– where did your clothes go!?”

“I don’t know!”

Both of them heard Sojiro coming up the steps and froze. As he neared the top of the staircase, Makoto quickly raised the covers over her body to cover herself.

Sojiro reached Akira’s room without hesitation, and both Makoto and Akira met his gaze instantly. Makoto was frozen in terror and embarassment.

They stayed like this for a moment, all parties deeply uncomfortable and unsure what to do next. Finally, Sojiro, with a shocked expression still on his face, simply turned around and wordlessly made his way down the stairs.

Makoto turned to Akira, who was still stunned. “Oh my god,” she whispered.

 

 

***

 

Sojiro was leaning in front of the counter, enjoying a cup of his own freshly brewed coffee, when he was surprised to see both Akira and Makoto slowly descending the stairs. It was really astonishing that either of them had the courage to do so, considering how shy they both were. Then again, he supposed they couldn’t just stay up there forever. Though they probably might prefer to.

He smiled, noticing Makoto wearing one of Akira’s slightly-too-large shirts over her skirt. It was almost kind of cute, had it not reminded him that two teenagers just had sex in his place of business.

He might have started berating Akira had Makoto not been there, but it was probably too late for that. Besides, he was almost an adult now, so it was only right for him to start forming relationships. He could only hope that Akira didn’t turn out like himself at that age.

“Coffee?” he offered the couple.

Makoto, blushing, moved slightly behind Akira and held his hand, as if trying to hide in his shadow. Akira took a different tact, and confidently responded “Sure, Boss.”

The two of them sat down at the counter and Sojiro poured them both cups of coffee. It was pretty obvious despite Akira’s casual act that they were both intensely nervous and embarrassed by the situation. Sojiro attempted to lighten the mood,

“Well, let’s not pretend that that was the weirdest thing that you two have used the café for.”

This joke flew over everyone’s heads and only served to make the scene more tense and uncomfortable. Makoto wondered whether or not he was actually talking about the Phantom Thieves meetings, and Akira nervously wondered if he was referring to Kawakami’s house calls. Sojiro thought it was still a pretty good icebreaker, and sipped his coffee.

The three of them sat in silence, drinking the coffee for another uncomfortable minute. Makoto broke the silence, “This is really good coffee.”

“Oh, thank you, Makoto,” Sojiro responded stiffly. Akira only nodded at this exchange.

After another minute of this, Sojiro thought he might try another joke as an icebreaker. He raised his eyebrow at Makoto and asked, “So, was he any good?”

“Okay, we’re going to go now,” Akira loudly interrupted as he stood up and dragged Makoto, blushing, out of LeBlanc.

He chuckled at them as they left. To be young and in love, he wistfully thought.

 

***

 

Ryuji leaned over the toilet as he prepared to vomit for the third time in twenty-four hours.

His mother knocked on the bathroom door outside. “Ryuji, are you okay in there!?” she cried.

“I’m fine, mom,” he let out, his voice trembling with disgust as he said it. He realized he shouldn’t have exerted his voice as he felt something come up in his throat.

 

***

“You’re not bad,” Shinya said. His voice was still high-pitched and clearly pierced through the noise of the crowds surrounding them.

Futaba placed the heavy plastic gun back into its holster in the Gun About cabinet. “Lightgun games are kind of for little kids,” she commented.

“Hey, you take that back!” He appeared quite upset.

A dizzying array of lights and loud noises surrounded them in the arcade of Downtown Shibuya, erupting from all sides. Despite her sensitivities to noise, Futaba was actually holding herself together fairly well. It was almost as if there was so much constant noise that she was beginning to get used to it. She might actually have a chance of overcoming her weakness.

“How can you stand this place? It’s so loud,” she asked Shinya.

Shinya just shrugged. “I love it here! Hey, want to play Tekken?” He pointed somewhere, and rushed off to the fighting game section of the arcade.

Futaba ran after him. “Wait!”

She wondered if this might be what having an annoying younger brother was like.

 

***


	4. Part Four

>   _Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed..._
> 
> _Only courage in the face of doubt can lead one to the answer..._
> 
> _-Nyx_

Yusuke was the first of the Thieves to walk into LeBlanc, coming in wet from the downpour outside.

He was surprised to find Joker and Makoto there, holding hands in a booth together.

“Oh!” Makoto exclaimed. “Yusuke’s here,” she said, quickly moving her hand away from Joker’s and getting up out of the booth seat. Yusuke noticed that Joker had a sort of dazed, happy look painted on his face.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he apologized, “It seems I’m early.”

“Yes, the others should be arriving soon,” Makoto responded, running her finger through her hair calmly.

“So what is this meeting about, exactly?” Yusuke asked.

He had received a mysterious series of texts the previous night, along with the other Thieves, starting with one from Joker.

“Everyone–come to LeBlanc after school tomorrow for an emergency strategy meeting before our infiltration.”

Ryuji was the first to respond, “Yo, what’s the deal? Is something going wrong with infiltrating Shido?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Just come early.”

Haru was the next to respond– “Joker, I’m confused. What’s the meeting about?”

Yusuke took his turn to concur, “Is it Akechi? Is he onto us?”

Ann replied, “That creep…”

“It has nothing to do with the palace,” Joker responded, “Don’t worry about it. Just be there.”

Ryuji texted, “????” and the conversation ended there.

Akira pushed his glasses up, and confidently stepped out of the counter. Then, standing next to Makoto and still facing Yusuke, he knelt down on one knee, flailed both his arms in the air, and gestured towards Makoto beside him as if presenting a gift in a game show.

Yusuke, at first confused, suddenly recognized the gesture from his time with Akira, and immediately started to laugh. He began softly clapping while doing so. “Bravo, Joker.”

“A-Akira,” Makoto protested. “Please get up…”

“So,” Yusuke began to remark, “You too, huh? I never would have guessed…”

“Y-yes, me and Akira are…” Makoto blushed as Akira took her hand. “We’ve decided to be together…”

“Well, I’m very happy for you both! You make quite the cute couple,” he commented. This only made blush more.

Quietly, Yusuke was a bit surprised. During their time together, Joker’s knowledge about art, his sense of fashion, and some of his, well… Perhaps it was just his natural charisma, but he could have sworn he was occasionally being a bit of a flirt. Regardless, Yusuke swore to not judge a book by its cover. Besides, it was not like he was jealous.

Behind him, the bell of LeBlanc’s door rang as both Ann and Ryuji filtered in from the rain.

“Oh, looks like we’re early!” Ann noted, “Hey everyone!”

“Good evening,” Yusuke responded. He noticed Makoto and Akira had quickly stopped holding hands out of embarrassment, but were still standing close together. “Ryuji, are you feeling alright? You look a bit pale.”

“Man, I don’t really want to talk about it…” Ryuji winced, “Let’s just get to the meeting, yeah?”

“Haru and Futaba still aren’t here!” Ann interrupted. “Oh, and where’s Mona-chan?”

“Oh!” Joker shouted.

“Huh?”

Joker turned around and ran over to LeBlanc’s bathroom and opened the door. Morgana slinked out, looking grim.

“Why is Morgana in the bathroom…?” Yusuke asked.

“Oh, is it safe for me to come out now?” Morgana cattily remarked to Joker.

“I said you could go with Sojiro!” he responded, exasperated.

“Yeah, and get soaked from the rain, and waste my time talking to someone who won’t understand me. No thanks,” Morgana fumed back.

Akira appeared to be a mixture of embarrassed and angry. Yusuke guessed at the reason for Morgana’s imprisonment, and eyed Makoto suspiciously.

“Hey, what’s the deal with keeping Mona cooped up in the bathroom?” Ryuji asked, curious.

“See,” Morgana quickly butted back in, “Even Skull cares more for my well-being than you!” He jumped up on the counter to better stare Akira down.

“Hey, don’t get any ideas…” Ryuji backed down.

Luckily, Sojiro and Futaba walked in from the rain to interrupt the cat’s interrogation. Haru followed closely behind them.

“Akira, would you get that damn cat off the counter!? This is still a place of business, you know!” Sojiro shouted. Akira quickly grabbed Morgana off the counter, who scratched his way loose from his grasp immediately, and fell gracefully to the ground.

“Jeez, it isn’t enough that you guys have to close this place down all the time,” Sojiro said, talking to himself as he walked through the cafe, Futaba lurking in his shadow, “Now you’re trying to poison my customers.”

“Huh?” Ryuji chirped.

“Allergies, Ryuji,” Makoto helpfully answered.

“Right, I knew that,” Ryuji said, unconvincingly, “Well, we’re all here now, so, let’s get to it, yeah?”

The gang filtered in to surround their booth as Sojiro moved to the back of the kitchen. Akira and Makoto sat next to each other.

“So,” Haru added after everyone had settled in, “what’s the big mystery, Akira?”

“Yeah,” Ryuji said, “what’s with being all cagey about this ‘emergency strategy meeting’?”

Akira was silent, and Makoto took the lead, “W-well, what this is really about is… well…”

Yusuke watched intently, amused and filled with anticipation.

Haru pitched in again, “Makoto-chan, what is it?”

“Um, the thing is…” Makoto stuttered, growing more anxious by the second.

All of a sudden, Akira squeezed her hand under the table, slammed his fist on the table with his other arm to everyone’s alarm, and proclaimed, “We’re dating now."

No one was sure how to react, as they were all stunned, except Yusuke, who started laughing to himself quietly at how awkward this was.

Ann was the first to chime in, “Wow, that’s great! Makoto, you’re so lucky!”

Ryuji added, “Yeah man, way to go!” He stretched his arm out to offer Akira a high-five, who declined by ignoring him. 

“Um, thanks, you too…” Makoto responded, now embarrassed beyond her wildest dreams. “Yes, the reason for this meeting is, to discuss if this relation–… to determine if this is appropriate for the Phantom Thieves going forward,” Makoto said, speeding through her words.

“What?” Haru asked, confused. “Really?”

“Yeah, you can’t be serious!” Ryuji butted in, “You guys are great together! Who gives a damn!” Yusuke quietly found Ryuji’s passion for defending these two after just learning about their coupling incredible.

Ann agreed, “Makoto, you’re way too cautious. Of course everyone is fine with this.”

Around the room, Futaba, Haru, Ryuji, Yusuke, and reluctantly, Morgana, voiced their approvals. Sojiro whistled to himself in the back.

“I just feel,” Makoto responded, “that as this group’s strategist, someone must voice the negatives. For starters, if Akira and I were to break up, it could pose a threat to the group’s stability going forward, and I feel our mission is far too important to risk on something so… unstable,” Makoto completed, her voice trembling and unsure.

“That’s bull!” Ryuji immediately responded, “You guys aren’t going to break up! You’re in love!”

“Wow…” Futaba uttered.

Ann giggled uncontrollably. Haru was stunned. Morgana licked his paw.

“I–um!” Makoto was shocked.

Ryuji quickly realized his mistake, “Oh shit, I’m sorry–I shouldn’t have said that, right?”

“No, I should say not,” Yusuke responded.

All of a sudden, penetrating the rising tension of the room, Akira stood up out of his booth, pushing the table forward on accident. With great drama, he again slammed his fist on the table, and shouted to everyone,

“Yes! I’m love her!!!”

Yusuke began laughing immediately. After a moment of silence, the rest of the room, excepting Makoto, followed, especially Ryuji, who ended falling out of his stool onto the floor.

“Akira…” Makoto tugged at his coat and whispered to her boyfriend in the chaos. “Did… you really mean that?”

He turned to her confidently, attempting to hide his shaking nerves, “Yes.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

“It’s okay. You don’t, uh, you shouldn’t say anything right now. That was impulsive.”

“No, it’s–of course I feel the same way.”

“You do?”

She pulled his face down to her, and they kissed softly. Barely anyone noticed in the confusion due to the eruption of laughter, until he sat down next to her and they kept kissing until it went way too far for anyone to be comfortable.

The emergency strategy meeting of the Phantom Thieves was soon brought to a happy close, and Akira dismissed everyone for the day. Almost everyone.

–END–


End file.
